- September 25, 2019
Managed IT Security Services: How To Unlock Your Business
When you’re considering cybersecurity protection for your business, a lot of the resources out there might scare you – and for good reason. According to a Statistics Canada survey, more than 1 in 5 Canadian businesses were affected by a cyberattack in 2017. However, protecting your company can become more than just mitigating risk; it can be the foundation to unlock new efficiencies, productivity and even profitability for your organization.
Let’s address the fear first. It’s easy to understand why protecting your business is important; access to critical data and the ability to work are vital to every business. Cyberattacks can result in data breach, grave disruption, and financial loss. As technology advances, new weaknesses are uncovered daily and these vulnerabilities represent new threats. From major global corporations such as Capital One, to local Canadian municipalities, nobody is immune.
One of the ways to protect your business is to work with a managed IT services partner with advanced security expertise. These security professionals will assess, design, implement, administer and oversee cybersecurity protections for your company, without the need to hire new staff or nurture and retain in-house competencies. In other words, your team is liberated to focus on the strategic objectives of your business instead of IT. But there is better news! An outcomes-driven IT partner can do more than defend your organization; they can help you gain competitive advantages in your field.
Digital Transformation to the Modern Workplace
Addressing cybersecurity as part of a holistic technology strategy unlocks the potential of your business. It makes sense to start with protections that secure the lifeblood of your company, but a managed IT partner can help you do more. Technology accelerators can help you achieve corporate objectives faster, all while improving the ultimate experience for your staff and customers. Through digital transformation, you can enhance productivity, collaboration, and business intelligence for your organization–the hallmarks of a modern workplace. We’ve seen this approach pay off repeatedly for companies of all sizes. A great example is Concrete Reflections, a family-owned and Canadian company that turned a major security incident into new momentum for their business.
From Incident Response to Business Enablement at Concrete Reflections
Concrete Reflections is a leader in the concrete industry, providing commercial and residential flooring solutions across Canada. The owners at Concrete Reflections managed IT themselves while leading the company through a period of aggressive growth. However, this all changed when they were infiltrated
by the Trojan malware, CryptoLocker. CryptoLocker is a form of ransomware which requires payment – usually in cryptocurrency – to regain access to company information.
“…the average financial cost of downtime to a Canadian business following a ransomware attack is 7.5 times higher than the average ransom requested per incident.”
Canadian Underwriter
CryptoLocker allowed cybercriminals to hold all essential data at Concrete Reflections hostage. For three days, the company nearly ground to a halt. Staff were unable to access corporate information and the owners eventually had to pay a large ransom to get it back. Even when data was restored, it took an additional two weeks for the company to return to normal operations. Concrete Reflections knew they could not let this happen again and they immediately started preparing for the future.
Initially, this security incident was the motivation for Concrete Reflections to contact an IT partner; however, they quickly started to realize there were further advantages to an outcomes-driven partnership in IT.
“We’ve seen our clients struggle when attempting to take on concrete work themselves and we’ve now seen that the same goes for IT. Having a partner in WBM not only puts us in a more secure place today, but we now feel like we have a strategy for the future.”
Russ Aneca – Partner, Concrete Reflections
With managed security implemented and the CryptoLocker threat removed, focus shifted to business enablement. New tools, such as Microsoft Teams, are now empowering staff to work more effectively and serve customers better; they have access to local and unlimited 24/7/365 IT support; and their time and resources are being devoted to achieving business objectives. In short, technology is fueling instead of hindering the company.
“The new tools we have make work so much easier! We can share information better and faster with everyone on the team, no matter where they are, and we just get more done in a day.”
Jason Selk – Operations Manager, Concrete Reflections
In embracing new and right-fit technologies, Concrete Reflections is improving processes and empowering their business. What started as a need to retrieve and protect data, has turned into meaningful business improvement.
This is just one of many examples of how security solutions can be integrated with a successful technology strategy to not only remove obstacles, but to propel your business forward. The first step is to protect your business, but the next steps can be just as powerful.
If you any have questions about protecting your business, or how digital transformation can empower your team, contact WBM Technologies today.
